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Bristol or Wild Place first?

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by ShonenJake13, 30 Dec 2016.

  1. ShonenJake13

    ShonenJake13 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I will be attempting to visit both collections on Monday. Which should I visit first and how long should I allow for each visit?

    Highlights/things to look out for are, as always, much appreciated :)
     
  2. migdog

    migdog Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I would suggest Bristol Zoo first as it opens at 9:30am and the nocturnal House is a hive of activity first thing. The lights are on so you get a good view of the animals.
     
  3. Martin B

    Martin B Well-Known Member

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    I would visit Bristol first, I would rather be short on time at Wild Place than the other way around.

    Don't forget to stop by and see baby Hugo the Pygmy Hippo and the Lord Howe Stick Insects. Wild Place also have two young Okapi, the oldest youngster Ruby often frequents the paddock now.
     
  4. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Without a shadow of a doubt, visit Bristol first - for the first 15-30 minutes after the zoo opens the lights are still on within the nocturnal house, but the inhabitants are already active barring one or two general exceptions (the Kowari and Aye-Aye tend to be harder to spot) and as such this is the ideal time to see the oddities within.

    One additional note - the zoo opens at 9am and not, as migdog advises, 9.30am :p if you visit at the latter time the aforementioned lighting opportunity will have passed!
     
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  5. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    That's if you can see him- he may be out of sight around the corner with his mother as they were on my recent visit.
     
  6. Martin B

    Martin B Well-Known Member

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    That's a shame, we've seen him on every visit we've made since his birth. He seems to be spending an increasing amount of time in the water with his mother Sirana. On the first few visits after his birth he had restricted access to the pool, only swimming during two 30 minute sessions each day. Hopefully you get to see him soon.
     
  7. migdog

    migdog Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Sorry you're right, it's been a long day, had our flights delayed coming back from Madrid!
     
  8. pipaluk

    pipaluk Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    As everyone has said, no question really, if you can get to the zoo for opening time. That would give you at least 4 hours, possibly longer and still give you over 2 hours at Wild Place (which is more than you need).
     
  9. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Yes, absolutely zoo first and straight to the nocturnal critters. :)

    Myself and robmv did exactly this earlier this month - we switched between zoos about 1ish (and ate lunch at Wild Place - the Bristol restaurant is being redone currently, though there are still options at the zoo). The Bird House was closed as an avian flu precaution, as was the penguin walkthrough (though I think the penguins were still visible from the underwater tunnel if you were willing to dodge the Santa stuff - they could also be seen from the fur seal enclosure, over the back) and the flamingo walkthrough (birds all visible through the mesh). The wallaby walkthrough was also closed, though this appears to pre-date the flu restrictions and the wallabies are again perfectly visible.

    It makes a very nice day - the two sites increasingly complement each other very nicely.

    And don't miss the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect! :)
     
  10. ShonenJake13

    ShonenJake13 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thank you all, I will take all of your advice into account :)
     
  11. ShonenJake13

    ShonenJake13 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Well I visited both today. Very interesting contrasts, as stated by @Maguari .

    Bristol is interesting. It reminds me a lot of London in the late 90s/early 00s, and maybe that's because it has so many animals they used to have; pygmy slow loris, sand cats, paddlefish, Standing's day geckos etc. I found it to be really enjoyable despite it only being 15 acres, and it definitely has shot into my top 5 zoos in England without a doubt. The gorilla enclosure is very good for a city zoo gorilla enclosure, and seeing Jock (who lived at London for a year in the early 00s) again after so long made me very happy. (Side note, it seems Touni, the gorilla who came from Vallée des Singes last year or the year before, has kept the clapping the youngsters there have learnt to do at scatter feeds when they want attention/some extra food. She clapped a few times during the talk, which took place outside on the island.) We followed the advice of many on here and went straight to the nocturnal house at opening time. Sure enough, we saw plenty awake/active, with a clean sweep of the house's rarer/unusual mammals (mongoose, sand cat, kowari, spiny mice, loris, mouse deer, cuscus, aye-ayes, mouse lemurs, jumping rats and quolls all active :) ) The kowari and the quolls were firsts for me and I absolutely loved them both. Also saw the aye-aye twins when we returned later so we were truly lucky in there :D other firsts around the zoo were the fur seals, yellow-footed rock wallabies, Livingstone's flying foxes, Lord Howe's stick insects (yes @Maguari and @Martin B we saw them :) ) and the lemur frogs. There were a few notable downsides, namely the tapir, lion and hippo enclosures, and these all fall under my main issue with Bristol; like London and any other city zoo, space constraints are a clear problem. It can well be difficult to make a good zoo out of a city space, but Bristol has broken the mold and is the only city zoo in my top five in England. Some of the areas could easily be changed around though, for example the lions could be converted for something like clouded leopards or lynx. Overall, however, despite its blemishes it was a fantastic visit. A couple of points that may need addressing, were the pygmy chameleons ever onshow, and did we miss any particular rarities in the lorikeet walkthrough (it was, together with the penguin and flamingo walkthroughs, sadly closed due to the bird flu issue)?

    As for Wild Place, you can really tell the place is still in the process of being built up, but that is not a bad thing. Yes it makes for a short trip and yes it may look messy, but they do have some very nice species (okapi, laughingthrushes, tarictic hornbills, mongoose lemurs and geladas) and some good enclosures (not too big on the Alaotra reed lemurs' outdoor area, nor the one for the goats, but the gelada enclosure, wolf wood and lemur walkthroughs were great). It is clearly a very family-oriented zoo and it is, well, what it says on the tin; a wild place. Lots of emphasis on wildlife conservation (good!!) and lots of kids obstacle courses, playgrounds etc. which is great as well. The nature walks and meadows are a lovely addition too, and I'm excited to see where the zoo is going (giraffe enclosure and dik-dik/crowned crane shared enclosure are on their way).

    Vastly preferred Bristol, but regardless, a grand day out :) if there are any questions hit me up!!

    Finally, @pipaluk since we had that minor disagreement re Colchester, I have since made a top ten zoos in England. Here's the list in order from best to worst (yes some may disagree but this is just my personal opinion, others are free to say what they think and why):

    1. Chester
    2. Whipsnade
    3. Bristol
    4. Colchester
    5. Marwell
    6. Howletts
    7. Paignton
    8. Port Lympne
    9. London
    10. Twycross
     
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  12. Zia

    Zia Well-Known Member

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    I have to say I love Bristol Zoo - glad you got the early morning nocturnal house experience! We also visited Wild Place for the first time earlier this year and had much the same view as you. I think it has potential and it will be interesting to watch it grow.

    On the subject of top tens - my other half and I are always debating this and I tend to be torn between my general enjoyment of visiting a place and the logical comparison of size/range of species etc that would normally be used for rating purposes. For my personality, I often find that I enjoy visiting a more medium to small sized zoos more than their bigger cousins. Chester is a great example - I can clearly see that by most standards it would come out at #1 on the UK list - but if I'm honest, it is not actually my favourite to visit. I've had much more enjoyable days at 'lesser' collections such as Cotswold Wildlife Park and Blackpool Zoo.

    In either case I don't necessarily agree with all of your top ten - Marwell and Port Lympne being ones I would omit. I wouldn't argue with your top 4 though - and I'd bump Paington up to #5.
     
  13. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    As I think I have said before, my top 10 tends to alter somewhat on any given occasion when I come up with one :p but for general comparison purposes I reckon mine would have to be something like this right now:

    1) Chester Zoo
    2) Bristol Zoo
    3) Highland Wildlife Park
    4) Cotswold Wildlife Park
    5) ZSL Whipsnade
    6) Paignton Zoo
    7) ZSL London
    8) Newquay Zoo
    9) Hamerton Zoo
    10) Howletts

    It is worth noting that there are a few collections - such as Crocodiles of the World, Scottish Owl Centre and Living Coasts - which I like *more* that some of the collections in this top 10 but which, due to their specialised nature, don't really suit the purposes of such a list.
     
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  14. ShonenJake13

    ShonenJake13 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    As does mine, Edinburgh was up there for ages until they lost so many species, and I also used to really like Newquay but haven't visited recently so wouldn't really know if I would like it enough to place it in the top 10. Hamerton I can see being a top 10 contender (in my books that is) once they expand a bit more and go for a wider variety of species.
     
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  15. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Edinburgh used to be my mainstay for the number 2 or 3 slot! I reckon it would be hard-pushed to be in the top 20 now, sad to say.......
     
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  16. Shorts

    Shorts Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    They were the last two times I visited (most recently in September 2016)
     
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  17. pipaluk

    pipaluk Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I wouldn't disagree with the content of your list that much. I'd throw in Hamerton & Cotswold as possibles for a place. I'd have Marwell much lower these days, if it made my 10 at all and probably place Bristol a few places lower. My top 2 would be the same with Colchester 3rd
     
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  18. ShonenJake13

    ShonenJake13 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Perhaps I should give reasoning for each one's position briefly:

    Chester: need I say more, the size, the species diversity, the enclosure design in most cases, the breeding successes etc.

    Whipsnade: the size, species diversity, one of my childhood zoos, the enclosure design to a degree

    Bristol: I don't think needs explaining following my post earlier today in this thread haha

    Colchester: still think this one is quite choc-a-bloc, but some very nice exhibits, good species diversity, and popular with the public

    Marwell: kind of Colchester-y in my opinion in regards to the choc-a-bloc feel, but more spread out. Also has a nice range of species, and size-wise and (in some cases) enclosure design wise is pretty decent. Even though it's in my top 5 I wouldn't mind omitting it to be honest.

    Howletts: I love visiting this zoo. Not just because of their specialty (once an ape nerd, always an ape nerd) but also because of the layout and some of the species diversity (I know that this won't last much longer, but I'll get my kicks whilst I can). Enclosure designs as well (gorilla enclosures and the elephants)

    Paignton: is it bad that I've put this in here before I've even visited? I have heard (and seen) good things re enclosure design and species diversity (kiwi?! Echidna?!?!) so this will be one of the next zoos on my list to visit. When I do go I'll be sure to say if it stays where it is, changes position in the top 10, or even leaves it (doubt the last one of those three possibilities will happen though).

    London: my closest zoo. Maybe it's scoring so low because I've visited so much and know the cracks under the paint so to speak. The lower vertebrate and invertebrate sections are stand out and definitely merit it a spot, together with some of the species they have and a couple of the enclosure designs (not many though).

    Port Lympne: size and species diversity are the only things that really keep this one in the list, together with the Palace of the Apes I suppose (I don't know what it is, I just really like that enclosure). If/when they lose their standout/rarer species it may well be omitted, as Zia suggests :p

    Twycross: anyone who knows me knows that I'm a sucker for bonobos. These, together with the collection being one of only four in Europe to house orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees as well as bonobos, as well as the rest of their primate collection, makes this zoo worthy of its place in my top 10. And the gibbon forest too, why not.
     
  19. pipaluk

    pipaluk Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    When I first visited 8 years ago it would have been 2nd or 3rd in my list, but now it can only be rivalled by Marwell for the most diminished collection since then. I don't think it's fallen out of the top 20 just yet, I'd place it somewhere between 8 and 15 ( for the moment!).
     
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  20. ShonenJake13

    ShonenJake13 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I would put it somewhere there as well, though not in my top 10.